Organissimo Conference: May 2008

[connoisseur series500]

How about starting with a "virtual conference" using the "Live Chat" feature? We might be able to drum up some interest in a "real" conference after a day or two of discussion about time, place, price, etc.

As long as we can drink beer and call each other names.

The only way I'd show up.

[BFrank]

How about starting with a "virtual conference" using the "Live Chat" feature? We might be able to drum up some interest in a "real" conference after a day or two of discussion about time, place, price, etc.

As long as we can drink beer and call each other names.

The only way I'd show up.

... and if the beer is cheap.

[AllenLowe]

well, if we want name-calling, gotta have Clem -

[Nate Dorward]

I'd certainly consider going--been a while since I've visited Chicago. It'd be dependent on whether I could get off work, though (Jan-April is busy season, I think May is OK).

Edited December 22, 2007 by Nate Dorward

[AllenLowe]

I'm actually not sure which group Braxton was referring to -

[bertrand]

Could the conference be slightly later in the year? Wayne Shorter is playing Chicago on 6/6 - this would be give me two good reasons to fly out!

Bertrand.

[Teasing the Korean]

Instead of a live conference, why don't we simply create a message board where we can all talk to each other about jazz?

[7/4]

Instead of a live conference, why don't we simply create a message board where we can all talk to each other about jazz?

Now there's a wild and crazy idea.

[AllenLowe]

June would work for me - gotta see what works for Jim -

[bertrand]

Maybe we can even talk Wayne into attending!

Edited December 22, 2007 by bertrand

[AllenLowe]

John Wayne's dead -

[AllenLowe]

of course there's always Wayne State -

[ejp626]

Could the conference be slightly later in the year? Wayne Shorter is playing Chicago on 6/6 - this would be give me two good reasons to fly out!

Bertrand.

True enough, though I thought the main aspect of the conference would be to hear Organissimo and perhaps Reptet and other board members' groups. The main problem with trying to work around Shorter (who is playing at the Chicago Symphony) is that we would be unlikely to be holding this downtown, so it would be a trek to see him and then get back to the conference. On the other hand, HotHouse (which would be an ideal performance location) might be available and is not that far from the Chicago Symphony building. If that worked out, there are some other locations not so far from the South Loop for a trade show, booths, whatever.

Anyway, I am definitely interested and will plan on attending (and helping out) as things shape up.

[Jim Alfredson]

The problem with June is that it is the start of the summer, which is the best time of year for gigs. I already have one wedding and a festival (in Toronto) scheduled in June and I'm sure it will start to fill up even more as time goes on.

If we can find a decent hotel with a conference room slightly outside Chicago, I'm sure they would give us a deal on rooms if we could guarantee a certain number of people coming.

[Aggie87]

If I can make it, I'd be interested in hearing live music (by any and all of our board member musicians who could be there to perform), and socializing with board members (and calling Conn names).

Not sure what the discussion panel would be for, or if it would be of interest. Is it related to Organissimo, the band? Organissimo the board? Jazz in general? Not sure I get the point.

I wouldn't mind making a trek to the Jazz Record Mart or something, but I'm also not sure trying to put together some sort of "record convention" at the O-show would be worth it either.

Music and socializing gets my vote!

[Free For All]

Jam/Hang/Eat/Drink/Hear music/Buy music. Period.

Can you imagine a bunch of board members descending upon Dusty or JRM simultaneously? It'd be like Best Buy on Black Friday.

Edited December 22, 2007 by Free For All

[AllenLowe]

"Not sure what the discussion panel would be for, or if it would be of interest. Is it related to Organissimo, the band? Organissimo the board? Jazz in general? Not sure I get the point.

I wouldn't mind making a trek to the Jazz Record Mart or something, but I'm also not sure trying to put together some sort of "record convention" at the O-show would be worth it either."

sorry, this first part makes little sense - if 200 people per day read this site and/or post here, about one discussion topic after another, why is it hard to "get the point" about panel discussions at a conference? We have some great minds here - the idea of direct and personal inter-action ought to have strong appeal - if it doesn't, you;re in the wrong place.

as for a "record convention," well, we have a group here who spend a good portion of their lives at stores and on the internet in order to satisfy musical cravings related to vinyl and CD - so it's a bad idea to bring it to them instead of vice versa?

sorry if I seem crabby, but it's always real easy to sit back and decide everything's a bad idea - but we have a tendency as 'collectors' to forget there's a big world out there - here's a chance to actually engage with that world -

[Aggie87]

We have some great minds here - the idea of direct and personal inter-action ought to have strong appeal - if it doesn't, you;re in the wrong place.

That's why I said "I'd be interested in hearing live music (by any and all of our board member musicians who could be there to perform), and socializing with board members". I like the idea of direct and personal interaction with other board members.

sorry if I seem crabby, but it's always real easy to sit back and decide everything's a bad idea - but we have a tendency as 'collectors' to forget there's a big world out there - here's a chance to actually engage with that world -

I never suggested a get together was a bad idea. In fact, I think I agreed with the idea of having all the board members who are musicians playing at a show in Chicago a few weeks ago.

I still don't care for the thought of a conference that we pay to attend, in order to see panel discussions. I'd rather pay to see the music, and hang and socialize (and call Conn names).

Edited December 22, 2007 by Aggie87

[Dan Gould]

"Not sure what the discussion panel would be for, or if it would be of interest. Is it related to Organissimo, the band? Organissimo the board? Jazz in general? Not sure I get the point.

I wouldn't mind making a trek to the Jazz Record Mart or something, but I'm also not sure trying to put together some sort of "record convention" at the O-show would be worth it either."

sorry, this first part makes little sense - if 200 people per day read this site and/or post here, about one discussion topic after another, why is it hard to "get the point" about panel discussions at a conference? We have some great minds here - the idea of direct and personal inter-action ought to have strong appeal - if it doesn't, you;re in the wrong place.

Perhaps its because reading and posting on the board is free (aside from the occasional crisis-averting donation) while attending a conference involves considerable expense for anyone who doesn't live close by. And what, aside from seeing your pretty face, is the difference between discussing these topics in person and discussing them on the board?

One more observation: who exactly is going to pay Wayne Shorter to play for us? I don't think a $35 conference fee is going to cover it.

My guess is that the reality is that those who would be interested would want to meet up someplace and see, face to face, the people they've been interacting with online for, in some cases, going on 8 or ten years. We don't need conference rooms and panel discussions or vendor tables. We need a cash bar and a stage for any musicians who want to jam. Located in a major city, we can plan vinyl and/or CD safaris. We want to hang with fellow O-people.

If I could afford it, I'd love to sit down and drink a beer while Larry, Chuck, Chris or Jim regale us with stories. I don't have a great deal of interest in sitting in an audience while they sit on a dais and talk at me.

[AllenLowe]

"what, aside from seeing your pretty face, is the difference between discussing these topics in person and discussing them on the board?"

yikes, I give up, I see why Jim got so frustrated with this crew- please resume watching television -

[AllenLowe]

"We don't need conference rooms and panel discussions or vendor tables. We need a cash bar and a stage for any musicians who want to jam."

let me add, sorry, but the whole purpose of what we're proposing is the opposite of the above, which is the usual b.s. - it's not worth my while traveling 1000 miles just to be more background music - you're right, for that you can stay home -

[Larry Kart]

Allen -- You know that I'm your friend, and you did mention this idea to me before you brought it up here and I certainly didn't say "nay" back then, but I'm inclined to think now, having taken in and thought about the various things that are being said, that 1) the "conference" idea is not so hot, and 2) those of us who feel that way here are not really a crew of deep-rooted negative thinkers. First, let's take a look at the two most obvious things that IMO link us together -- a love of jazz and a fondness for talking about it (and responding to other people talking about it) in a relaxed, unrestrained manner and (one likes to think) knowledgable manner in this particular setting. Obviously, that's not all we want to do, nor is it all we have in common, but leaving aside the question of expenses for the moment, any sort of get-together that cuts across what we already have going for us and how we seem to like to behave is probably going to have problems. For instance -- and while I'm speaking only for myself on this point, I can imagine others having related qualms -- when we talked on the phone a few weeks back, you casually mentioned that I might speak on some subject to the assembled multitude, should a multitude assemble. But I hate to speak in public, nor do I particularly like to participate in panel discussions, though for me that would be the lesser of two evils. Why do I feel that way? Well, aside from the fact that I'm obviously batshit, I think it's because it's been my experience that the more people I'm talking to (and the more of those people I don't already know), the stupider I get and/or feel -- and the more uncomfortable too, which may account for the being/feeling more stupid part. By contrast, and just to point (or gesture) in a different direction and make it clear that I'm not merely or wholly a hermit, I remember the time a few years ago that Organissimo played Martyrs in Chicago, and I and several other board members came by to hear them. First, the band was excellent; second, we all got a chance to meet and mingle in a basically pleasant place in what seemed to me to be a quite natural, no-pressure manner (though perhaps Jim, Joe, and Randy felt more pressure that night than I did). It was -- to circle back to my original stance -- as though Organissimo the band (having taken on flesh for those of us who'd only heard the band on record) and Organissimo the board (i.e. the warm communal/casual feeling of the board at its best) had for a time become one thing. That was really fine, and it would be great if that could happen again for the band and for many more of us than were able to gather at that club on that night -- and I'm not forgetting the Reptet and other bands that are connected to the board. But ... well, do you get my drift here? A conference, in my experience, is a typically (perhaps even inherently) uptight social construction -- travel, reservations, schedules, name tags, etc. What I'm trying to say, and I could be way wrong here, is that the conference idea doesn't fit my sense of the us-ness of us. What would fit better instead, I think, is some reasonable extension/expansion of a gig that the band might normally have -- to add another connected or compatible band and also add the possibility of some fairly free-form social gathering/gatherings that were connected to that musical event. I dunno, that's for sure. But what I am sure of is that we have to begin with who we are, what we do here that feels good to us, and build outward from that, if that's possible. Hey, if we all lived within, say, a 100 miles of northern New Jersey, and Organissimo had a two-night gig there, I'm sure a lot of us would make it with little or no problem and probably stay over to shmooze. Or am I really the professional negative thinker that above I professed not to be?

[bertrand]

Who said anything about Shorter playing at the conference? He has a gig on 6/6. If I were in Chicago that night for any reason (organissimo conference or other) I would go to the gig. I joked about his attending the conference (as a participant) but I assumed the exclamation point would indicate that I was not being serious about his actually attending.

My question was intended as follows: 'is May set in stone?' Jim gave a very good reasong why May is better than June, so that's that.

Bertrand.

[Chuck Nessa]

What Larry said, especially the part where he says he says he's "obviously batshit"! Me too.

I think the whole deal should be a social affair, not a structured event. Forum musicians, centering around Organissimo should be more than enough, with the added spice of any Chicago musicians willing to join in - I'd love to hear Von playing with the band.

Needless to say, I will be there and look forward to the possibility of a few beers with Dan. I have already had a few with Connie and might avoid that.

Edited December 23, 2007 by Chuck Nessa

[Ron S]

I'd love to hear Von playing with the band.

Now that would be something.

I have already had a few with Connie and might avoid that.

I didn't know it was possible to have just a few with conn.